One year ago today the Booger, the Boy, and the Missing Piece of Pac-Man starred in their first ever webcomic adventure. Since the day that this site was created, there were plans on doing some kind of cartoon. Originally the idea was to create a site similar to that of homestarrunner.com, and the idea of a “spacebooger” was born.
The site began in 2004 showcasing my concept art related to the (supposed) upcoming comic/cartoon. After realizing that creating the necessary animation for a cartoon was too much for me to handle, I began writing a comic that would be posted online one page at a time. The script for The Recreant was good, but my drawing skills are not, so the script for The Recreant is still just sitting in cyberspace.
In 2006, the itch for a SpaceBooger comic began again. I started sketching and worked with Nick at Robotron5000, on a code that would incorporate a webcomic on the site.
On January 17, 2007 the world (wide web) got to see the Booger and his supporting cast for the first time. The concept for SpaceBooger the webcomic is simple: A boy, a Booger, a Butterfly on steroids, and the Missing Piece of Pac-Man are all trapped on a broken down spaceship floating in space with nothing but the internet and pop culture to entertain them.
After one year, the comic and its characters have evolved and changed, but the essence of each character is still the same.
The Booger was designed with a 3-prong plug adaptor as a head, a penguin’s body, and a shape on his chest similar to the skull on the Punisher’s costume. In the first couple comic strips the Booger looked lifeless and emotionless. Since the first comic, the Booger has evolved. No longer does his head look exactly like a pug adaptor, this was changed so that he could have emotional facial expressions.
The Booger is not the only character to change; the Boy now has a face (even though I have used the same image of him since redesigning him this summer.)
The only character not to change is the Missing Piece of Pac-Man. The Missing Piece makes me laugh every time I draw him. His constant sad look is heartwarming and hilarious, and will continue until he finally feels that he “fits in” somewhere.
Introduced in December 2007, was the first new character to the comic: Barry-Fly. The Booger has proclaimed that the “Bug” is his archenemy, yet we all know that the Booger is his own worst enemy. Barry-Fly originated as a sketch that I was working on when trying to create a villain for the Booger during his attempt to become a superhero. I joked around saying that Barry-Fly was a butterfly on steroids and in comic number 30 we learn that the Booger himself accidentally created Barry-Fly.
With one year complete I can’t wait to see what happens in this new year for the Booger and his crew. Check back next week when a new storyline begins: SpaceBooger Year 1: The Booger Begins!
